LOW: Bowie's Berlin Years
By Reinhard Kleist
Paperback with flaps, 176 pp, $19.99
Low traces the aftermath of David Bowie’s groundbreaking tour of America, and the iconic “Berlin years” that followed. Hot on the platform heels of Starman: Bowie’s Stardust Years (SelfMadeHero, 2023), Reinhard Kleist masterfully concludes his two-part biography of David Bowie. In 1976, Bowie escaped the frantic madness and substance abuse of his life in Los Angeles for the Wall of the divided city of Berlin. With his friend Iggy Pop in tow, Bowie quit drugs and created LOW, the first album of his “Berlin Trilogy”. But even here, in some of the happiest days of his life, Ziggy Stardust would not let him go…
Low follows Bowie’s forays through West Berlin’s revolutionary music scene and wild club life, and takes us deep into his recording sessions at Hansa Studios. The friendship between Bowie and Iggy drives both artists to new creative heights, while Bowie’s relationship with the cabaret icon Romy Haag illuminates his fascination with Berlin as a city on the brink. Kleist’s Low is both a retelling of Bowie’s Berlin years and a vibrant portrait of the city itself.
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Reinhard Kleist
Reinhard Kleist, born in 1970 in Hürth, Cologne, has worked and lived as an illustrator and comic book artist in Berlin since 1996. He made his international breakthrough in 2006 with the biographical comic book Johnny Cash: I See a Darkness, which was awarded the renowned Max and Moritz Prize and nominated for both the Eisner and Harvey Awards. With The Boxer in 2013, Kleist became the first cartoonist to receive the German Youth Literature Prize. In 2017, Kleist once again tackled one of music’s great storytellers in Nick Cave: Mercy on Me, which was simultaneously released in many languages. In 2018, Kleist was honoured for his work with the Max and Moritz Prize for Best German-Language Comic Book Artist. In 2021, Kleist tackled another extraordinary boxing champion, Emile Griffith, in the comic book Knock Out! His critically acclaimed graphic biography of David Bowie forms two parts: Starman: Bowie’s Stardust Years (SelfMadeHero, 2023) and LOW: Bowie’s Berlin Years (SelfMadeHero, 2025).
Reviews
"This always fascinating, sometimes challenging, book captures both the detail and spirit of Bowie's Berlin Years making Low, an absolute high."
— The Slings & Arrows
"Gleefully potent, loose-limbed, energetically fantasmagoric yet understated art... LOW: Bowie's Berlin Years is as much a potent tribute to the city and its people at a key point in history as only a Cologne-born Berliner-by-choice could tell it. It’s also a powerful reminder of those precarious times and how fashion, art and music helped us through the grimness of it all…"
— Now Read This!
"Bowie’s Berlin Years is an affectionate, thorough addition to the almost-mystical power of its dual subjects."
— Buzz Magazine
"This book is a real labour of love and a testament to a high point in Bowie’s career... a must read."
— The Indiependant
"A Reinhard Kleist graphic novel is always a good time and this is no exception."
— Bookmunch